Christmas Eve Family Dinner
by 47alwayswriting
Summary: Kate is invited to have Christmas Eve dinner with her mother's side of the family. Contains spoilers up to season 3 COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! So I've been writing this the last couple of days and it was supposed to be this sweet small story, but it got longer and longer. I'm not really happy with the result but it'll do.**

* * *

The precinct is still dark and Beckett is the first one in as usual. She doesn't need to be this early since she isn't working a case right now and not really behind on paperwork, but she woke early anyway and figured that she could just as well go in.

She logs onto her computer and finds that she has an e-mail from her cousin. She hasn't talked to anyone from her mom's side of the family in years and is surprised to find an invitation to Christmas dinner from Savannah. She doubts it'll be fun, but it would be nice to see her family again. She hasn't really talked to them since the funeral. They send each other Christmas and birthday cards, but that's it. Kate sighs and flags the invitation, she needs to think about it.

She just turns to her paperwork when her phone rings. Castle.

"Why are you calling me at seven in the morning?" she asks as a way to say hello.

"And good morning to you, Detective," Castle's cheery voice comes through the speaker. "Don't tell me I woke you!"

"No, Castle. You didn't wake me," Kate sighs.

"Good, where are you?"

"At the precinct," she answers wearily.

"Great! I'll be right up then! Five minutes tops!" Then he hangs up and Beckett is left stunned. She stares at her phone. Usually Castle's still asleep at this hour, and very grumpy when she calls him.

Five minutes later Castle comes crashing into the bullpen. His cheeks are bright red from the cold outside and his hair is dishevelled.

"Hi, Kate!" he yells when he stumbles into his chair.

"Hush, Castle! I'm not deaf!" Kate grumbles.

"Guess what!" he beams in a more normal voice.

"What? Are you going to tell me why you're here so early?" she says.

"Well… I just realised that it's Christmas next week!"

"Just? Seriously? You've been going on about it since the day after Thanksgiving!" Kate laughs.

"Oh, who cares? It's almost Christmas, Kate! Where's your holiday spirit?"

"On the north pole," Kate mumbles, but Castle doesn't hear her and chatters on about his plans for Christmas dinner. Kate smiles and lets him. She likes it when he's so enthusiastic about something that he's all hyped up.

"But I'm still not sure if I should go for steak or turkey. I mean turkey is more traditional, but we already had turkey at Thanksgiving and I found this really awesome recipe for steak."

"Sounds like you've already made your choice, Castle," Kate says, not looking up from her paperwork.

"Yeah, maybe… so what are your plans for Christmas? You don't have to work this year, do you?"

"No, Montgomery insisted that I'd take Christmas off, because I've been running the Christmas shift for years. So I'm not sure. I got invited over by my cousin, but I don't know. It's been years since I've been there." She's not sure why she told him that, she usually doesn't, but it just tumbled out.

"How long?" he asks. He'd come down to earth again, just the slight red in his cheeks now hinted at his previous exhilaration.

"Twelve years," she says in a small voice and it doesn't take Castle long to do the math.

"Your mom's funeral." It isn't a question, but Kate nods anyway. She feels Castle move closer and lean in to take her hand and she lets him. "You should go," he says, "it'll be good for you."

Kate looks up and sees the tenderness in his very blue eyes. Her breath hitches as he stares back at her. His eyes speak volumes. She means the world to him and he wants her to be happy. She's sure her eyes tell him the same thing.

"Okay," she hears herself say and Castle grins.

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Fine, I'll go. It's just dinner, right?"

"Just dinner. You can leave whenever you want," he says. "When is it?"

"Ah, Christmas Eve, I think. Wait, let me check," she says as she pulls away and turns to her computer. She opens the invitation and reads it more carefully. "Yes, Christmas Eve."

"Okay," he says, then adds, "Do you want me to come?" He looks genuine when Kate turns to him sharply.

"No, you should spend Christmas with your family!" she says, coming on a little harder then she intended. She'd actually love him to come, but his family comes first.

"Alexis is spending Christmas Eve with Ashley and Mother is going God knows where, so I don't have a problem with Christmas Eve dinner with your family," he waves her away with a grin. Then he thinks of something and his grins falls. "But you probably want to ask Josh to come."

Josh? Why would she ask Josh? Oh, she didn't tell him that did she?

"No, I don't think that be a good idea," she says and Castle looks up in question. "See, I gave him an ultimatum. Me or Uganda. He chose Uganda. He left last week."

Castle brow furrows, "I'm sorry." But he doesn't sound sorry at all. A light has been ignited in his eyes and they shine brighter than they have since she found him next to his dead acquaintance with a gun on this hands.

"You're not, but thanks anyways. I think I knew it was going to end sooner rather than later. I was just kind of hoping for later." She gives him a small smile. "Anyway, since you're free on Christmas Eve… I would love for you to come with me. I need someone to talk to when it gets awkward."

"You're on."

(…)

Castle's picking her up at five and she's still struggling to get her make-up right. It keeps getting smudged. Kate growls when she hears the knock on her door. He is five minutes early.

She opens the door for him and lets him in. "Give me a minute, I need to fix my make-up," she manages before she disappears into the bathroom again.

Castle follows her and stands in the doorway, watching her as she tries to get her eyeliner right. It doesn't surprise Kate, since he hardly ever gives her the privacy she wants. She just tries to ignore him as usual.

"You nervous?" he asks after a minute.

"No, I'm not nervous," she shoots back and winces as her voice rises an octave. "Right, maybe a little."

"It'll be fine, Kate. I'll be with you the entire time." Somehow that does make her feel slightly better and she shoots him a grateful smile. She looks at herself in the mirror again and decides that she looks fine. Or, as fine as it'll ever be.

"You look beautiful, by the way," Castle says in a soft voice as he eyes the elegant black dress she's wearing.

"Thanks, Castle. You look good, too." She barely sees the expansive shirt and jacket he's wearing and says it almost automatically.

"Ready?" He steps back to let her out of the bathroom.

"Yes, let's go," Kate says with a sigh and grabs her purse from a kitchen stool.

The ride in Castle's town car is quiet, but not awkward. Kate marvels over the fact that they can just sit together without having to say anything. It's not often that Castle isn't talking, but she doesn't feel the urge to fill the quiet with conversation when he doesn't.

"What are we?" he suddenly asks, hauling her out of her thoughts. She gives him a look and he clarifies, "I mean, how do we introduce me? Am I your partner or your friend… or do we say you're my muse?"

Kate slaps him on his bicep, "We definitely don't say that!" Then her brow furrows, "I guess you're my friend?" It comes out as a question. She's not sure why, but she goes with and looks at him.

"Okay, good," he says with a smile. "And will they recognize me?"

"Possibly. I wasn't the first in the family to read your books," Kate answers with a sly smile. "We'll just go with it. I'll introduce you as Rick, because it's weird to call a friend by their last name. And then we'll see what happens. If they recognize you, fine. If they don't, that's fine too." She just hopes that they accept Castle as Castle and not as the author.

"Great." Castle reaches out for her hand and squeezed it. "You're doing surprisingly well with all this."

"Yeah, well, it's my family, right? I shouldn't be nervous to introduce my friend to my family." That earns her a massive grin that warms her heart and she automatically returns.

"So... Is there anything I need to know about this side of your family?" he asks. He's been surprisingly quiet about the subject and hasn't grilled her on all the details of her long-lost family as he calls it, so she's more than willing to answer his questions now.

"Ah, we're going to Savannah's house, but she doesn't want to be called Savannah anymore and insists that we call her Hannah… She's my aunt Janine and uncle Robert's oldest daughter and has one brother called Tommy. Janine was a year younger then my mother and used to look a lot like her. My other aunt is called Sophia and is married to Brant; they have a son and a daughter, Callie and Grant. Tommy, Callie and Grant all used to be pretty normal." She pauses for a second, thinking. "My grandmother is basically deaf and there's no point in striking conversation with her, but she'll be perfectly happy as long as she doesn't have to sit alone. Then there's Tommy's kid, Charlie. I've never met him, but he should be around four by now."

Castle stares at her, his mouth hanging open a little. It takes him a minute to recover from the amount of information she just gave him, but eventually he grins and says, "So, basically, there's nothing to worried about, right?"

"Right," Kate smiles. "Just don't ask about Charlie's mother."

"Okay, fine," he responds, then says, "Which Brant calls his son Grant? That's child abuse."

Kate chuckles. "Yeah, and Grant isn't even Brant's son. His father left during his first month and Sophia married Brant when Grant was three."

"This is getting more complicated by the minute," Castle grumbles.

"It's not that complicated, I mean, Brant basically is Grants father. So just don't mention Charlie's mom and everything will be fine," she says and she glances outside. "We're here."

Castle takes a deep breath, gets out of the car and hurries around it to open Kate's door for her. "I wish I hadn't asked anything, because now you've made me nervous," he says.

"Relax, Castle, everything will be fine," Kate chuckles as she takes his hand and drags him to Savannahs front door. It opens before she can knock and suddenly she's face to face with her cousin. Before she knows it she's being crushed in a hug.

"Kate! You made it! We thought you weren't going to come. It's been so long! How are you? You look good," Savannah rushed over her head.

"Ah, thanks, Hannah. You look good, too. I sent an e-mail that said I'd be here," Kate tries to reply to everything at once. "This is Rick, by the way. Rick, this is Hannah." Kate turns to her companion and suddenly realizes that she's still holding his hand. She quickly lets go, but Savannah caught it and hugs Castle while she says something that looks a lot like "Welcome to the family."

Castle shoots her a look when Savannah leads them inside. "Guess you forgot to tell me that she's an Easter bunny on a sugar rush," he mumbles into her ear.

"Right, sorry, totally forgot about that," Kate apologizes then shoots him an evil grin. "But really you two should get along just fine."

He grumbles something Kate doesn't understand and she follows Savannah into the living room, followed by Castle. Almost everyone is already there. When she steps through the door all conversation abruptly stops and every head is turned in her direction. Suddenly, Castle's a little too close behind her and she feels his hand on the small of her back to let her know that he's with her. It somehow gives her strength, the knowledge that even in here they're partners.

"Hi," she says tentatively as she takes another step inside. There's an awkward pause and Kate tries to think of something she could say next when a cute little guy bumps into her.

"Hello," she hears Castle say affectionately, "and who must this great man be?" He moves around Kate to crouch in front of the boy.

"My name is Charlie, sir," the little boy says in a shy voice. It surprises Kate how grown up he sounds for a four-year-old.

"Hello, Charlie, my name is Rick," Castle says and he holds out his hand to him, which Charlie shakes. Kate smiles affectionately at the sight at her feet when the boy looks up.

"I'm sorry for bumping into you, ma'am." She sees Castle look up at her as well and chuckles at the look of two pairs extremely innocent eyes staring up at her.

"No worries, Charlie," she says as she crouches down next to Castle and holds out her hand mirroring Castle only moments before. "My name is Kate."

Charlie takes her hand and says, "Hi, Kate. Daddy says you're family, but why haven't I seen you before if you are?" The question surprises her and she's quiet for a beat.

"I guess I've just been very busy," she says as she glances at Castle for help.

"Kate catches bad guys," he stage whispers to the boy and Charlie's eyes grow huge.

"Cool!" he yells and turns around to tell his father. "Daddy! Daddy! Did you hear? Kate catches bad guys! She's a superhero! Like superman!" The overenthusiastic boy gets scooped up by Tommy, who only looks slightly older then Kate remembers him.

"Yes, little man, I heard. She's more like Catwoman if you ask me. Superman's a guy remember?" he tells his son.

"Right, but then Rick is Batman!" the boy shrieks.

"Not necessarily," Tommy says and he comes closer to where Castle and Beckett are now standing. "Hi, I'm Tommy," he introduces himself to Castle.

"Rick," Castle says.

"So, are you Batman? Or just Kate's friend?" Tommy asks.

"Well, we're partners, too. So you could say I'm Batman, if Kate's Catwoman," Castle grins.

Kate elbows and says quietly, "In your dreams, writer-boy. Hi, Tommy." She moves in to give him a hug, which is awkward since Tommy is still holding Charlie. Around them, her other family members have started talking again and Kate's relieved.

"Writer-boy, huh," Tommy says in a low voice. "Don't let my mother hear you, she's a big fan of yours, MrCastle."

"Huh, ah, thanks?" Castle says uncertainly.

"Don't worry, I'll tell her to behave," Tommy chuckles. "So how are you, Kate?"

"I'm good, thanks. You?"

"I'm good, too. We're glad you're here."

"Thanks, I'm glad to be here," Kate says and she finds that she means it.

"Great, how's your father?" Tommy seems to be struggling to keep the conversation going.

"He's doing much better. He seems happy again." Tommy nods and there's a lull in the conversation. Neither of them knows what to say next. Charlie looks up at them and grins at Castle, who was making faces at him.

Tommy chuckles. "Do you have a kid, Rick?"

"Yes, I have a daughter, Alexis. She's seventeen," he says proudly.

"They grow up so fast, don't they? It seems like yesterday that this little guy was born," Tommy says.

"Oh, it seems like yesterday that I was braiding Alexis's hair for her first day of school," Rick says.

"You braided her hair?" Kate teases.

"Yes, Kate, I did and I'm proud of it. Meredith wasn't around to do it and she wanted braids." He pushes out his chest to prove that he isn't ashamed of having braided his daughters hair. Kate chuckles.

"So I take it you raised her yourself? Or are you two…" Tommy trails off.

"No, I raised her myself. Beckett and I are just friends," Castle says.

"You didn't raise her, Castle. She raised you," Kate interferes.

"And where did she learn all that stuff?" Castle protests with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Certainly not from you," Kate answers with the same sparkle.

"Well, not from Mother either, or from Meredith," Castle grumbles.

"Kate!" a voice interrupts their banter. Kate turns around and sees Callie coming her way.

"Hey Callie!" Kate says as she hugs her youngest cousin. "How are you?"

"Great! I see you've already met Charlie! Isn't he amazing?" Callie beams.

"Yes, he is," Kate says.

"Oh, hi, I'm Callie," Callie says as she holds out her hand to Castle.

"Rick," Castle says with a smile.

"You're Richard Castle, aren't you? I saw in the paper that you were following Kate for a book a few years ago, but I didn't think that you two would still know each other after three years. So, are the rumours true? Are you two together? Did you break up with your publisher for Kate?"

"Callie! Leave them alone!" Sophia says from behind Kate. Kate glances at Castle and sees that his mouth is hanging open. She puts her finger under his chin to close it and turns around to greet her aunt.

"It's good to see you, Kate," Sophia says as she gathers Kate in a hug. "And nice to meet you MrCastle, I'm Sophia," she says as she shakes Castle's hand.

"Nice to meet you too. But please, call me Rick." Castle doesn't seem uncomfortable, but it surprises Kate that he doesn't fall back into his alter ego the author.

"I love your books," Sophia praises. Castle thanks her with a humble smile that makes Kate's heart melt. Sophia engages Castle in a conversation about his motives to kill off Derek Storm.

Tommy has left to talk to his mother and Charlie his still looking up at them with big eyes. Kate kneels next to him and says, "Hi, Charlie, do you like it here?"

The kid starts to nod enthusiastically and then tilts his head to one side, "Yeah, but it can get kind of boring when all the big people are talking to each other about stuff I don't know. Daddy has brought me some cars, but I've been playing with them all afternoon and I'm a bit tired of them."

"How long have you been here?" Kate asks him.

"Daddy was free this morning, so we came here right after we'd finished lunch," Charlie says.

"Wow, that's early, aren't you tired?"

"No, not at all. I don't get tired anymore."

"Right… How about this? Rick is very good at making up games, maybe you can ask him to play with you?" she proposes and the boy's eyes grow wide.

"He won't mind?" he asks uncertainly.

"No, of course not," Castle says, having listened in at the end of their conversation. "I love playing games." He practically beams. The big kid.

Kate lightly touches his arm and says, "I'll go greet my grandmother. I'll be right back." Castle nods and Kate looks around the room in search for her grandmother. She finds her on the chair by the window.

"Hello, Gram," Kate says while she touches her grandmothers arm to catch her attention.

"Katie! Good to see you, good to see you!" Gram says. She's dressed in black and Kate assumes she's still mourning her daughter's death. It makes her sad and she pulls up a chair next to her.

"How are you?" she asks.

"Fine, fine. You look good, Katie. Who's that handsome man you've brought with you? Is that your husband?" A spark of electricity shoots up Kate's body and warms her heart. She's stunned for a second by her body's unexpected reaction.

"Guess not then," Gram smiles. "But you like him don't you? I saw how you looked at him when he was talking to Charlie. Your smile could light up the room, everyone noticed."

Kate blushes and looks down. "Come on, Katie, talk to me like you used to." That makes her look up into her grandmothers eyes. It reminds her of how she used to tell her grandmother everything, sometimes her grandmother got stuff out of her that she didn't even admit to herself. Only now, she does admit it to herself. Sometimes.

"It's complicated," Kate says uncomfortably.

"Why? Tell me the story, Katie," her grandmother pushes.

"Ah, the story… you want the beginning?" Kate chuckles.

"Everything."

"Right… You know I already read his books, right?"

"Yes, you were quite fond of them, if I remember right."

"Yeah, well, almost four years ago I caught a case that copied the murders in his books. So naturally he was a suspect. I interrogated him and despised him. He was so arrogant and childish. Of course, he was innocent and I had to let him go. But he insisted on consulting on the case. He did help a bit, but he was so annoying," Kate growls. Now she's started she has to finish, she doesn't even care that Callie has started to listen in.

"Then, when we closed the case and I thought I was finally rid of him, he decided that he wanted to write a book about me. So now he's become my partner. I've realised that the arrogant side of him isn't real. He's actually kind of sweet, a really good father… and my best friend," she says the last part a little softer, ducking her head down.

"Well, it sounds like you really like him," Gram teases, making Kate blush. "Why is it complicated, again?"

"I just broke up with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago… Besides, he's a world-famous novelist, it wouldn't work."

"Says who? Katie, look at him," Gram says, forcing Kate to look up and search for Castle. He is telling Charlie a story on the couch, but his eyes are on her. She meets his eyes immediately. She smiles at him without giving herself permission to smile and he smiles back, warming her heart again. Then she looks back at her grandmother. "See? You didn't notice he's been looking at you since we started talking?"

"No, ah, well, he does that. I guess I've grown used to it," Kate defends, but as soon as she's said it she realises that it doesn't really help her case.

Gram chuckles, "I'd like to meet him."

"Okay, fine, I'll go get him," she says reluctantly and gets up. Castle's eyes light up when he sees her coming for him.


	2. Chapter 2

"I thought you said your grandmother was deaf?" he says as soon as she's close enough, interrupting his story. Charlie seems to have fallen asleep and Castle gently lays him down on the couch.

"Yeah, that was so you wouldn't try and talk to her…" Kate mumbles, forcing herself not to look down. "Looks like your story wasn't very good," she teases, mentioning to Charlie.

"What? No, my story was amazing. It had aliens and star troopers and lasers and everything in it. The kid was jut tired."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

"I will. So why don't you want me talking to your grandmother?" he asks innocently.

"No reason," she rushes, "come on." She grabs his arm and pulls him towards her grandmother.

"Gram, this is Rick Castle. Castle, this is my grandmother."

"You call him Castle?" Gram asks.

"Force of habit." Kate sits down in the chair she just left and mentions for Castle to grab another. When he finally sits, he looks at Kate with questions in his eyes.

"Nice to meet you, MrCastle. Kate has told me great things about you," Gram says to break the ice. It surprises Kate that Castle didn't speak first, since he usually can't shut up.

"Nice to meet you too, ma'am," he says with awe in his voice. Kate studies him and realizes that he seems shy.

"C'mon, don't call me ma'am. It makes me feel old. Just call me Gram, everyone does," Gram says as she pats his knee.

"Right," Castle mumbles.

"I hear you're a father?" Gram tries again and Castle's eyes shoot towards Kate, who gives him an encouraging smile.

"Yes, my daughter is seventeen."

"Ah, I remember when Kate was seventeen… Isn't that when you got that tattoo your parents were so hyped up about?" Gram turns towards Kate, who has to stifle a grown. This is exactly why she didn't want Castle to talk to her grandmother. She knew things that she didn't want Castle to know.

"Yeah, somewhere around that time. They were more worried about the bike, though," she says, trying to steer the conversation towards territory that Castle already knew.

"Really? You got your bike when you were seventeen?" A suddenly very interested Castle says.

"Hmhmm."

"Oh, I remember the night your mother called me to ask what she had done wrong!" Gram chuckles.

"I can imagine. Remember when Alexis wanted to buy a Vespa?" Castle asks Kate.

"Yeah, you were worried about nothing. Seriously Castle, a Vespa? Alexis could have done much worse…"

"Like a Harley?" Gram laughs.

"Or a tattoo…"

"Or a –" Gram started, but Kate quickly put her hand over her grandmothers mouth. Gram started laughing. "Fine, I won't tell him that."

"What?" Castle asks, but Kate smiles and shakes her head. "Beckett! C'mon, tell me!" he whines and gives her puppy dog eyes. Kate laughs at him, but has trouble with resisting him. But there's no way she's going to tell him.

"No, Rick, not telling," Gram saves her. "If Kate asks me not to tell, I won't. What else can't I tell him, exactly?"

Kate groans, "Ugh, this was exactly why I didn't want you to meet her."

"But surely I can tell him about the time you we're 'sick'," Gram says.

Kate sighs, "Fine, tell him that, that's not so bad…"

"Okay," Gram all but cheers. "So she was… how old were you? Fifteen?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Great, so imagine a fifteen year old Katie calling me in the morning from school. You told me you had a test you hadn't studied for… What was it?"

"Trigonometry."

"Right, so she calls me asking if I could call the school to say she's sick. I asked her why she didn't just call her mother to do that, but she said that she's tried that but keeps getting her voicemail. Jim's too. So I don't see the harm in it and call the school to tell them she's sick. Later that evening Johanna called me to ask if I knew where Katie was. Turned out that she had lied to me and didn't have a test at all, but there was a concert in MadisonSquareGarden that she really wanted to go to and she needed a place in front. So she'd been in line since morning to get in."

"Which concert?" Castle asks.

"Guns 'n Roses," Kate shrugs, "I had done so much trouble for getting those tickets. I needed to have a good spot."

"How was the concert?"

"Amazing," Kate grins. "Got three months house arrest afterwards, but it was worth it."

Castle chuckles and starts to say something when Savannah shouts that dinner is ready. So they help Gram up and lead her to the very long table. Kate ends up sitting between Castle and Grant, with Janine, Tommy and Brant, Grant's father, across from them. Luckily Gram doesn't sit anywhere near Castle, so she can't tell him anymore embarrassing stories. Though, the concert one wasn't so bad.

Dinner goes very well, Castle charms the entire table and by the time Savannah is serving dessert he's telling them about their first case. Of course, he exaggerates everything and Kate has to correct him.

"So Kate here handcuffed me to the car, but she didn't realize that I had a spare key in my wallet. It didn't take me much effort to free myself –"

"No, of course not. If I remember correctly, you dropped the key and had to retrieve it with your foot… Or how else do you explain the fact that you were only wearing one shoe?" Kate quips.

"So I see the suspect coming down the fire exit," he continues, ignoring Kate, "and I follow him like a true defender of the city –"

"And you managed to get caught and I had to save you, remember?"

"Of course I knew that his gun wasn't loaded," Castle shoots back.

"Yeah, I didn't, so it still counts."

"No, it doesn't, there was no need for saving… Besides, you didn't save me, I knocked him out."

"You didn't, you just distracted and hit him –"

"And took his gun from him when he aimed it at you, so technically –"

"You didn't save me, since you knew it wasn't loaded –"

"I did knock him down, so you could cuff him," Castle finishes, puffing his chest out. Kate realizes that everyone is staring at them. What started as a little story for Grant, had caught the attention of the entire family.

"Are you two always like that?" Tommy asks.

"Like what?" Kate and Castle say in unison and they realize that they were finishing each other's sentences again.

"Oh that," Kate chuckles. She looks into her family's expectant faces.

"We are a pretty good team," Castle says proudly. "Like –"

"Don't say Han Solo and Luke Skywalker," Kate interrupts.

"Please, I wasn't going to say that! Who do you think I am? No Turner and Hooch either, because last time you compared me to a dog," he says.

"What? Did you want to compare _me_ to a dog?" Kate remarks.

"Never! I was going to compare us to Catwoman and Batman!" he says, making Charlie cheer. "Dinner was amazing, Hannah," he says quickly when he sees Kate's deathly stare.

"Thank you, Rick," Savannah says with a grin. "But please continue, I'm enjoying your stories very much."

"Okay, what should we tell them, Kate?" Castle turns to Kate.

"Ah, nothing that involves a blown up apartments, freezers or Coonan, please," Kate says. "Other than that you can knock yourself out. No, wait, don't talk about the case at the Old Haunt… or the one where we came across Royce." She sees her family's interested face in the corner of her eye and decides to tease them some more. "Or the one in Dungeon Alley."

When she says that she hears Grant choke next to her. He gets laughed at by everyone while he tries to catch his breath again.

"Seriously, Beckett? Those are all the good ones!" Castle whines.

"Yeah, but some of them are wildly inappropriate for our younger audience," Kate says as she motions towards Charlie with her eyes.

"Ah, no you're right," Castle says. "But you didn't say anything about the case where that Magician got killed…" Castle looks at her and she nods in permission so he dives in with flourish. Telling her family about the trick they used to get the killer to confess.

"I'm serious! He almost shat his pants!" Castle laughs.

"Castle! Young audience, remember!" Kate yells as she hits his arm, making everyone laugh again.

"Do you know any magic tricks, Charlie?" Castle asks the kid.

The boy shakes his head shyly. "No. Do you?" he suddenly sounds very interested.

"I do, if you want, I'll teach you some," Castle offers and Charlie nods enthusiastically.

Everyone has finished their dessert by now and start to move to the living room. Castle, being the gentleman that he is, insists to help with the dishes. Kate helps him gather the plates and they help Savannah clean everything up.

They talk a bit, but most of it is small talk. Kate finds out that Savannah is now a nurse and she tries to ask her a bit more about her work, trying to avoid talking about hers.

When Savannah sends Rick out to ask everyone what they want to drink she says, "You look good, Kate. I didn't know what I expected when I saw you but not this. You look happy."

"Thank you," Kate says with a little smile.

"Do you think of her often?" she asks after a short silence in which she apparently hesitated about asking it.

"Everyday," Kate murmurs, "but I'm doing a lot better. I don't have the feeling I'm drowning anymore. Castle helped me find her killer…"

"Yeah, I heard about that. Your dad called us last year," Savannah says.

"Oh, sorry, I should've called you myself," Kate feels stupid, she should've thought of calling her mothers family. They deserve to know just as much as she and her dad.

"Don't worry about it. I assume you had enough on your mind back then. I heard it involved a shooting."

"Yeah, he held Castle at gunshot and this time it was loaded," Kate sighs, remembering. "You know he wanted to leave, afterwards? He came to me and said he was done. In his mind it was his fault that I had to shoot the guy, but I had no choice. There's no way I'll let Castle die over knowing who ordered my mom's killing," she says without thinking. Then she sees Savannah's eyes grow wide and she realizes that she probably doesn't know the whole story. "Right, sorry about that."

Savannah raises a hand as to wave her apology away. "Your job," she starts, "it's very dangerous, isn't it?"

"Sometimes, but most of the time it's perfectly safe. Boring even," Kate explains.

"But the story at dinner… that was his first case," Savannah says.

"Yeah, well, he was a fool back then. Now he's a bit more careful. And it doesn't happen very often anymore…"

"You said something about an apartment blowing up… what was that about?"

"Oh, ah, a weird Nikki Heat fan had placed a bomb inside my apartment, causing it to blow up, but no one got hurt," Kate says it like it's nothing, but she leaves out that she would have died if Castle hadn't called her.

Castle picks that moment to return and Kate shoots him a grateful smile. "Okay, four red and one white wine, two bourbon, a glass of apple juice for Charlie and three waters," he says.

"Okay," Savannah says, slowly counting in her head, "Wait, that's eleven, you've only asked nine people," she says with a confused frown.

"Oh, one bourbon is for me, and a white wine for Kate," Castle explains.

"You want white wine?" Savannah asks Kate.

"Yep," Kate says, not caring about explaining how Castle knows what she wants. "Was going to ask for it anyway."

"You sure there's nothing going on between you two?"

"Yeah, why?" Kate asks.

"Nothing… I'll go get the booze." Savannah hurries out the kitchen, leaving Kate alone with Castle.

"So how did you know I wanted white wine?" she asks him.

"No reason, I just noticed that you only take red wine when we're alone and that you get a little… Anyway, guessed you didn't want that with your family here," he grins.

"Right. Good call," Kate blushes.

"So, I couldn't help but hear what you said, before I entered," Castle says, startling Kate, making her blush even more. "Are you serious about that?"

"Of course I was serious about that. Castle, your life is so much more important to me than finding my mom's killer. I do really want to find him, but I'm not going to risk losing you to accomplish that. I couldn't live with that." She can't help that her voice sounds a bit panicked.

"Kate…" Castle whispers and suddenly he's a lot closer then she realized. "I'm not going to die on you. I promise." He pulls her into a hug and holds her close. She rests her head on his shoulder and takes a deep breath to force herself to calm down.

"I won't let you," Kate breathes.

"Good." She can hear the content smile in his voice and she feels his head move right before she feels his lips on her temple. She freezes and holds her breath, but she doesn't move away. After a moment she relaxes and looks up at him. His eyes shine bright, making her insides swirl. He looks like he wants to say something, but Kate smothers him before he can.

She presses her lips to his very lightly. He's stunned and when she moves away he looks at her with wonder. "You sure?" he says quietly and Kate nods firmly. She's very sure.

"Okay, found everything!" Savannah's voice comes round the corner and Kate quickly lets go of Castle before her cousin walks through the door. Savannah's smirk tells them that she knows exactly what just happened. "Right, ah, can you help me carry this?"

"Yeah, of course!" they exclaim, quickly taking some glasses from her so she's a little less loaded and start for the living room.

"Wait!" Savannah calls. "You two should wait a minute so you don't have bright red faces that fit in perfectly with the Christmas decorations." She smirks again and leans against the counter.

"Right," Castle mumbles, still short of breath.

"So tell me… You still insist that there's nothing between you?"

Castle looks at Kate, whose face turns even brighter red than it already was.

"I knew it!" Savannah grins. "So why didn't you just tell us?"

Kate sighs and says, "Because it's all very new right now."

"Still, why didn't you tell us?"

"Like Kate said, it's very new _right now_." Castle exaggerates the sentence so it becomes clear to Savannah.

"Oh, _oh, _like seriously? Just now?" Suddenly she's the one who turns bright red. "I interrupted your first moment! Oh, I'm such an idiot!"

"Hannah, seriously, it's okay. It doesn't matter," Kate says and Savannah calms down.

"Seems like everyone has their own colour back, so let's go," she quickly says. Leading a chuckling Castle and Kate to the living room.

"Uncle Rick! Can you teach me a magic trick?" Charlie says as soon as Rick sits down.

"Sure kid, do you have any playing cards?" he says and the boy runs away to retrieve a deck of cards. "You know, Kate told me once that she know a very good trick too, but she has yet to show me," he says when Charlie returns.

"Really? Do you know magic too?" Charlie asks her and Castle nods wildly. Charlie's enthusiasm is catching and Kate grins, forgetting to hit Castle for his insinuation.

"Not really, just one trick. Here, I'll show you." Charlie hands her the cards and she shuffles them, holding the one at the bottom at the same place. She shows Charlie the card and says, "King of Spades." The boy's eyes grow wide as he nods.

Castle chuckles, "You just saw the card when you took the deck from him and kept it at the bottom of the stack when you shuffled. That's no magic. Give me those, you heretic." He takes the cards from her and starts to show Charlie 'real' magic.

They're on the couch, Kate in the middle with Castle on her left and Gram on her right. Next to Castle is Tommy on a chair with Charlie on his lap.

"You seem more at ease next to him than this afternoon," Gram observes, she says it so quietly that Kate's the only one who can hear it.

"What do you mean?" She didn't realize she was tense with Castle before.

"You weren't exactly tense," it's like her grandmother can read her thoughts, "but more… hesitant. That hesitance is gone, somehow."

Kate grins at her and Gram gasps, raising her eyebrows in a question that Kate answers with a nod. Just like that she tells her grandmother about what had just happened in the kitchen without any words and no one in the room suspects a thing.

(…)

The evening goes by in conversation and laughs that grow louder each time there's a little more alcohol consumed. Tommy had tucked Charlie in soon after Castle's lesson in magic tricks, so Castle had joined the conversation, but to Kate's surprise he doesn't lead the conversation like at dinner. He seems perfectly content with sitting back with her. She's leaning into him and he sneaks an arm around her shoulder.

She sees Savannah's eyes glance their way and the corners of her lips turn up the slightest bit. She sees Grant stare at them for a second, but then he shrugs and turns his attention back to Robert's story. Tommy grins at them knowingly, but doesn't say anything. The rest of them don't seem to notice, they pretend not to notice, or they simply don't care.

"Okay, okay, let's play a game," Callie says. "Robert, first time you kissed Janine."

"Ah, that was after we went out to dinner at that sweet little restaurant, remember, honey?" Robert looks at his wife for confirmation. His cheeks are a little too red and Kate guesses that he's had enough to drink for the night.

"Kate, first time you kissed Castle," he suddenly says. Kate startles and clears her throat. Castle squeezes her arm lightly, as if to give her permission.

"Should I tell them the whole story?" she asks Castle, who shrugs and nods. _Why not?_ "A couple of months ago we were trying to save… someone and we had to get past a guard. So we pretended to be a drunk couple. That didn't really work, so Castle kissed me."

"And she knocked the guard out when he started to turn around," Castle adds. Everyone looks at them with open mouths.

"Seriously? I thought that… in the kitchen…" Savannah stutters.

"Yeah, but you asked about our first kiss, right? That was our first kiss. Now, Grant, first kiss with Evelyn," Kate says quickly to move attention away from them and luckily Grant starts telling about his first kiss with his girlfriend.

Kate feels Castle's breath on her temple and she revels in the warmth. "You did good," he whispers in her ear and she moves her head slightly in acknowledgement.

She relaxes even further into him and she feels her eyelids getting heavy. Still, she struggles to keep them open.

"I think it's time for us to go home," she hears Castle say from somewhere far away. Then she feels herself getting jostled and she opens her eyes, realizing that she must've fallen asleep.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she mumbles and she looks into the grinning faces of her family. "Long day."

"A very long day. What time did you get in, Kate?" Castle chides her.

"Five. I wanted to close the case before Christmas so everyone could go home to their families," she says around a yawn.

"Seriously?" Janine says. "Kate, you… your mother would've done the same," she says in a small voice. Kate smiles at her and groans while she stands up. Castle keeps his arm around her for support and she leans on him heavily as she says goodbye to her family.

"Don't be a stranger," Tommy says.

"I won't," Kate smiles. "This was fun. Thanks for inviting me."

"Anytime," Savannah says.

After a round of hugs and sharing sentimentsCastle leads her out the door. His car is already waiting for them. "Did he wait all this time?" Kate mumbles, still heavy with sleep.

"No, I texted him when I realized you had fallen asleep," Castle says as he opens the door for her.

"Right, good," Kate says with a deep sigh. She settles into the very comfortable leather and moves to rest her head on Castle's shoulder when he settles down next to her. She mumbles something unintelligible before she drifts off to sleep again.

The last thing she feels is the press of Castle's lips at the top of her head.


End file.
